The Search For Ranma
by nightcrawler89
Summary: Ranma has gone missing and its up to Akane and the gang to find him. Ranma/Akane and others read to find out who.
1. The Dragon

Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Hope you enjoy it.

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Everything was quiet in Nerima until the day it came. It was giant Chinese dragon that was the length of three football fields and as tall as a three story building. In the 6 hours since it came, it had nearly leveled half the town.

And in the middle of the carnage were Nerima's best martial artist. They included, Ranma and Genma Saotome, Soun and Akane Tendo, Ryoga Hibiki, Shampoo, Moose, Ukyo Kuonji, Konatsu, Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno. The police had left the dragon to them because they figured that these individuals were far more qualified to fight a giant monster than the military.

Sadly, the Nerima martial artist weren't fairing well.

Konatsu's shurikan didn't even pierce the creatures hide. The dragons' tale slapped Konatsu and tossed him into Ukyo knocking them both out. Kodachi tried to snare the dragon with her ribbon but it was too strong for her. The dragon pulled Kodachi with her ribbon and eventually flung her into a wall.

Tatewaki in a rare show of concern for his sister yelled, "I shall smite the foul creature for harming my twisted sister." Tatewaki ran forward with his sword held high. The dragon inhaled and exhaled a burst of flames in Tatewaki's direction. Soun and Genma barely had enough time to push the fool out of the way.

Shampoo used the dragons' distraction to get to higher ground. She jumped from the tallest building she could find and slammed her chui into the dragons head. The dragon looked in her direction. Shampoo could tell that the beast had barely even felt her attack.

The dragon charged at Shampoo with its mouth open ready to eat her. As it was about to accomplish its goal, it held back. Several of Moose's chains were wrapped around it. The dragon started to breathe fire at Moose but another distraction made it stop.

It was Akane. She was pounding at the dragons' side with all the strength she could muster.

The Dragon had had enough of the girl. It tried step on her. Akane dodged the dragons claws too the best of her ability.

Akane was running out of energy. She did not know how much longer she could keep it up. Akane started getting tired and then she tripped on some loose rubble.

It was over. The dragon had her where it wanted her. The creature raised it large claw and brought it down.

Akane braced herself.

Then at the very last second, Ranma came. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her off to safety. Akane should have known he'd come. Ranma was her fiancé and she knew he would never let anything happen to her.

Akane settled into Ranma's arms. She knew what would happen next. Ranma and Ryoga would defeat the dragon. She would hug Ranma and he would hug her back. Then after an hour, everything would go back to normal. She and Ranma would go back to insulting eachother. Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi would continue to throw themselves at Ranma. Moose, Ryoga, and Tatewaki would continue to attempt to defeat Ranma. Her father and Genma would then push her and Ranma to get married.

It seriously gave Akane a headache

Akane then snapped back into reality as Ranma tossed her into the arms of her father.

Ranma and Ryoga then jumped off the roof of a building usuing some of their strongest attacks.

"DOUBLE MOKO TAKBISHA" yelled Ranma as two large chi blast fired from his hands.

"SHISHI HOKODAN" yelled Ryoga as a powerful blast of energy erupted from his hands.

Soon a large cloud of dust and debris covered the area. All the Nerima martial artist had recovered from their injuries and had gathered to see the outcome of the fight.

To all their horror, the dragon had survived the onslaught unharmed.

Ranma yelled "Everyone take cover".

The martial artist all knew what Ranma was about to do. Ranma started to focus on his soul of ice and he could hear Akane yell at him to be careful. Ranma started to move his body into the spiral. As Ranma reached the center, the dragon exhaled flames onto him. Ranma thrust his fist into the flames shouting "HIRYU SHOTEN HA"

An intense tornado formed and carried Ranma and the dragon skyward.

Akane and the rest of the Nerima fighters started to grow worried. Several minutes past and no one had seen Ranma or the dragon come down. Then suddenly and with a loud crash, the dragon came down. Then they all saw that the dragon had Ranma under its large claws.

Akane ran forward without thinking. She grabbed the dragons' claw and with her remaining strength, lifted it just enough for Ranma to get out from under it. Ranma then grabbed Akane's hand and they ran back to where the others were. They were all taking cover in an empty building.

"None of our attacks are getting through," said Ryoga.

"Let's not lose hope," said Soun

"Yeah, there has to be some way to destroy it," said Genma.

There was a long silence.

Then finally, Ranma spoke up, "I know how". His tone was not at all happy.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense Saotome" yelled Tatewaki.

Ranma looked over at Akane. He went over to her and took her hands in his. Then he kissed her. It was brief but it left Akane in a daze. The other girls were too shocked to do anything.

"Been wanting to do that for awhile now Akane. I'm just sorry that I waited until now to do it."

Akane could feel tears swelling in her eyes as she just barely choked out "What do mean by that Ranma". Although she had a pretty good idea of what he was about to do.

Everyone had gathered around them. They could hear the dragon's roar from outside. Ranma closed his eyes then he inhaled and his body started to glow. The light he emitted was warm. The glowing Ranma reached into his chest and pulled out a small ball of light. Then he took Akane's left hand and the ball of light took the shape of a ring. On the ring was a diamond in the shape of a flower. Ranma slipped the ring onto Akane's finger and said, "When the time comes, this will help you find me".

Ranma looked over at his friends and family and smiled. He slowly started to rise from the ground he eventually flew. Ranma met the dragon eye to eye. The dragon spit more fire at him but it had no effect. Ranma raised his fist and flew straight toward the dragon yelling "NOVA STRIKE".

There was a blinding flash of light and all time seemed to stop. When it started again, everyone stared at the spot the dragon occupied. It was dead. It was now an empty shell of what it once was. Soun and Genma barely touched it and the dragon's husk dissolved into ash.

Then Akane looked around and said, "Where's Ranma".

End Chapter 1


	2. Grief

It had been three weeks since the dragon appeared.

Ranma was nowhere to be found.

After a month, he had been declared legally deceased.

The Saotome's announced the news to everyone the day after.

Akane didn't believe a word of it. She dismissed the idea completely and went to work out in the dojo.

Ukyo and Ryoga had been thrown into a deep depression. Ukyo's couldn't work or sleep. Ryoga had gone deep into the mountains and fired off one "Shishi Hokodan" after another.

Shampoo was angry. Her airen was gone and the various tricks and schemes that she had attempted to use on him were all for nothing. Everyone made sure to stay at least 10 feet away from her during the weeks that followed. Moose tried to comfort her a little too soon and she punched him straight through three buildings.

Kasumi later found Nabiki sulking in her room. Kasumi didn't speak. She just walked over to Nabiki and put her arms around her while Nabiki muttered, "He made Akane happy. I'd give anything to get him back"

The Saotome family reluctantly held a funeral for him. Everyone was there. Akane wasn't. Akane was the only one who couldn't accept it. The day of the funeral, she stayed in her room with tears falling freely from her eyes. She clung to Ranma's red Chinese shirt. It smelled so much like him. She then rolled over and went to sleep.

Akane awoke to something rubbing her butt. She looked over and found Happosai. Akane grabbed the nearest blunt object she could find and hit him with it. The desk lamp in her hand had been shattered by the impact. "Pervert" screamed Akane as she kicked Happosai out of her room. The kick knocked Happosai into the wall causing some of his "treasures" to spill out. Akane noticed that the "treasures" belonged to her so she went to go pick them up and kick him again.

Akane gasped as something fell from the undergarments. It was a bright red circle pendant. Happosai woke up, noticed Akane holding it, and said, "You like it, you can keep it. The gold dragon that was on it mysteriously vanished so it's of no more value to me."

"What gold dragon" asked Akane.

"Oh the pendant had some golden Chinese dragon design on it when I 'acquired it'. Then about three or four weeks ago, I stored in a fish tank for safe keeping and when I went to retrieve it the dragon was gone."

It did not take long for Akane to put two and two together. She slapped Happosai as hard as she possible could. She then walked back into her room and locked the door. In her mind she kept hearing _Ranma's gone because of him_

Akane finally went back to school the week after. On her way, she couldn't help but notice all the things that reminded her of Ranma. Like the fence he used to walk on and the old woman who would splash him as he ran by. She started walking faster. Then she heard a voice.

"Akane, wait up" yelled Ukyo. Akane stopped and waited.

"What is it?" Akane asked.

"Did you hear that the Neko Hanten was closing down?"

"No. When did you hear?"

"Just now from Konatsu. Then I saw you walking by and I thought I'd join you on the walk to school".

"Oh, well I guess I don't mind. Anything to get my mind off Ranma".

There was a long silence after that. Ukyo kept her eyes on the ground and in a voice that you had to be listening for to hear said "Everywhere you look, you see him. You imagine face sporting a grin that would make your hear melt. When he looks at you and makes you feel like theirs know one else in the world but the two of you. His eyes…oh god his eyes….the perfect shade of blue".

Akane and Ukyo both noticed that the other had a single tear running down their face.

"I'm sorry," said Ukyo

"It's alright. I miss him too" said Akane.

As Akane and Ukyo walked up to the front gate, they saw something that Akane was hoping she would never have to see again.

Every male student in the school was up front with Kuno in the lead. At once they yelled "Akane Tendo go out with me" and then charged.

End of Chapter 2

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I figure this story will be made up of several small chapters. Moreover, if I'm not too busy this weekend, I'll update again and finally get around to explaining Ranmas' disappearance.


	3. Ranma Found

"Akane Tendo go out with me," shouted the boys as they charged.

Akane screamed with rage. It had barley been over a month since Ranma disappeared and already the boys had reverted back to attacking her in masse for a date.

Akane charged with the intent on beating all the boys to a pulp. She punched a guy from the boxing team in the gut, kicked a guy from the fencing team in the face, and in one kick she knocked out five guys from the hockey team. Then in after a flurry of punches and kicks another fifteen guys were face down on the pavement. Not a single one of them even laid a finger on her.

Ukyo stood still as she watched the whole thing. She would have jumped in to help but from the looks of things, Akane didn't need it. Ukyo noticed Akanes' movements. They were a lot more graceful than before. No movement was wasted or awkward. She had seen the movements before but could not figure out where.

Then Kuno being the last one standing charged forward with his wooden sword held high.

"Akane Tendo my love" he yelled

Akane turned towards him and yelled "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken" as her fist shot out like lightning. She had to have hit Kuno over two hundred times before she stopped and let him fall.

That's when Ukyo noticed that the ring Akane wore on her left hand was glowing. Then she remembered the day Ranma disappeared. Ranma was glowing and he reached inside his chest and pulled out a ball of light. The light then formed a ring wich he placed on Akane's finger.

"Hey let me see that ring," said Ukyo as she reached for the ring.

As soon as Ukyo's hand came within a centimeter of the ring, a spark flew out of it and shocked Ukyo.

"Hey, don't shock me Akane" yelled Ukyo.

"It wasn't me," Akane yelled back

"Oh so I suppose the ring just shocked me all by itself"

"It must have"

Ukyo reached for the ring again and got another shock. Akane then took the ring off with little to no effort. Akane stared at the ring and noticed nothing that stood out. Ukyo then snatched the ring from Akane's hands and received a much larger shock than before when barely touched it.

Akane took the ring back and placed it back on her left ring finger.

"How come the ring shocks me and not you?" asked Ukyo

"I have no idea," responded Akane. "Although I know where we might find out"

Then the girls took off in the direction of the Neko Hanten. They only stopped once to grab Konatsu from Ucchans.

They were in luck; it looked like the amazons hadn't left yet. Akane, Ukyo and Konatsu then went inside.

"What you want," demanded Shampoo.

"I need to talk to your great grandmother," said Akane

"About what"

"None of your business. Now where is Cologne?"

While Akane and Shampoo were arguing, Konatsu was busy trying to stop Mousse from hugging Ukyo. Naturally, Mousse didn't have his glasses on and had mistaken Ukyo for Shampoo.

"What's all that noise?" asked Cologne as she came down the stairs.

"Violent girl want to see you," said Shampoo

Akane walked over to Cologne and showed her the ring on her left hand. Cologne stared at the ring for a minute.

"Were did you get this ring" Cologne asked.

Akane then proceeded to retell the story of how Ranma disappeared.

"So he pulled out a ball of light from his chest which formed a ring that he gave to you," repeated Cologne

"Yes"-said Akane

Before Cologne could continue to explain, Shampoo spoke up "Airen probably meant to give ring to Shampoo". Shampoo then tried to snatch the ring off Akane's finger.

"I wouldn't do that," warned Ukyo.

Nevertheless, she was too late. Shampoo's hand got too close the ring and it shocked her.

Cologne sighed and continued, "The ring Akane is wearing is made out a piece of son-in-law's soul. If what Akane told me about the technique that my son-in-law used is accurate then he is indeed still alive."

"What!" yelled everyone in the room.

"Yes. When someone uses the Nova Strike technique, that person draws upon the planets raw energy giving him or her enough power to do whatever they want. They could do anything, be anything, create or destroy."

Akane spoke up "That's very interesting but it doesn't tell us where Ranma is."

"I was getting to that. In order to stop the outflow of power, the planet puts the user in a deep hibernation and takes their physical body somewhere to heal since the technique is very physically draining.

"So Ran-chan is asleep somewhere" said Ukyo

"In the most basic terms, yes" said Cologne.

"So how do we find Ranma" said Konatsu

"I'm not sure though, I have an idea. Mousse, get me a map of the world" said Cologne.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Mousse came back with a map and spread it out across a table.

"Everyone, I need you all to think about son-in-law. Close your eyes and focus on your memories of him," said Cologne.

Ukyo remembered the first time Ranma called her cute. It made all her anger towards him simply fade away.

Konatsu remembered that if it weren't for Ranma, he probably would never have met Ukyo.

Shampoo remembered the night she slept next to Ranma when she first arrived. He was so warm.

Mousse remembered his first fight with Ranma. Had he known about Ranmas' curse, he probably wouldn't have tried to strip him/her naked.

Akane remembered the brief moment Ranma kissed her. At that moment, she knew that she never wanted to kiss any other lips.

Cologne watched the ring on Akane's finger start to glow and a small beam of light shot from it and burned a small hole in the map.

"I think we have a location," said Cologne

Everyone opened their eyes and stared at the hole in the map. It was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

"I have one last question," said Akane.

"What" asked Cologne?

"Earlier today, I got into fight. I used the Amaguriken technique against Kuno. How was that possible? I never trained in how to use it."

"That ring you were was made with a piece of son-in-laws soul. I assume that as long as you wear it, anything he could do, you can now do. You might even start acting like him if you wear it long enough."

"Why would he trust me with something so powerful?"

"I think you already know the answer to that"

Akane blushed as she thought about it. Then she slowly said, "I'm going to get him back. If I have to rent a rowboat, I'm going to find him."

End of Chapter 3

Sorry I made you all wait the weekend for this. It was all a matter of finding time to work on it. I hope this chapter answers some of the questions raised by the first two.


	4. The AkaneKodachi Aliance

"You can go look for Ranma by yourself sugar," said Ukyo as she was walking out the door.

"You're not going to help," asked Akane. She was shocked. Ukyo had been pursuing Ranma for as long as Akane had known her.

Ukyo looked around the room "Look, it's fairly obvious that Ranma wanted Akane to rescue him and could care less about the rest of us."

"That's not true," said Akane

"Really, the ring on your hand says different." Tears were starting to form in Ukyo's eyes as she turned to walk away once more. Konatsu bowed to everyone then started following.

Shampoo had also started to walk out.

From what Akane could tell, it seemed like no one was willing to help her get Ranma back. So Akane grabbed the map with Ranma's location and stomped out the Neko hanten past Ukyo. She turned one last time and cried, "Fine, I'll just rescue him by myself. But I want you all to know that Ranma would rescue you no matter how he felt. Whenever Ranma has a problem, He goes to you Ukyo. Konatsu, he saved you from your old life. Shampoo, Ranma saved you from being forced into marrying that ghost cat. Mousse, if it weren't for Ranma, you wouldn't be living under the same roof a Shampoo. You all are supposed to be Ranma's friends."

Akane ran home. She couldn't look at them anymore.

"Kasumi, I'm home" called Akane. She went up to her room to start packing.

"Akane, I thought you were in school," said Kasumi as she walked in.

"I couldn't stay. I may have found out where Ranma is so, I'm going to find him"

"Oh my. Well is anyone going with you?"

"Unfortunately, no. No one else seemed to care"

"Well…be safe"

"What! You're not going to try and stop me or talk me out of it"

"Would you listen even if I did?"

There was a long silence between the two. Not an awkward one but one of mutual understanding. Kasumi finally broke it by saying "You should leave soon, before father finds out."

"Thanks Kasumi".

Then Kasumi left. Akane had all but finished packing when a black rose petal floated down on her bead. Akane looked up and saw Kodachi hanging from the ceiling.

Kodachi came down and landed right in front of Akane.

"How dare you go search for my Ranma darling without telling me?" yelled Kodachi.

"How long have you been here?" Akane yelled back

"I've been following you since you left the Neko Hanten"

"Why"

"I thought you were hiding my Ranma but since it turns out you don't know where he is either, I shall leave"

"Wait, you can help me"

"And why should the grate Kodachi help a commoner like you"

"Because, you have a lot of money and can help me rent a boat. The sooner I get a boat, the sooner I can get Ranma back and the sooner you can get back to stalking him"

"I believe the term is courting and make that the sooner WE find Ranma".

"YOU wanna help Me"

"Unfortunately, you apparently know where Ranma darling is and I don't. Therefore, I grudgingly accept your offer to help me regain my true love and you will meet me tonight at pier 41."

Then Kodachi jumped out Akanes' window laughing while Akane was wondering, "What the hell just happened."

End of Chapter 4

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I know this one was short but I wanted to give you all something. Hopefully the next chapter will be up by the weekend.


	5. The group departs

It was 11:30 pm and a foggy night. Akane was anxiously waiting at the pier for Kodachi to show up with (hopefully) a boat.

Then, she heard footsteps behind her. Akane turned around and their stood Ukyo, Konatsu, Mousse, and Shampoo.

"How did you all know where I was" asked Akane

Ukyo walked up "You'd be amazed at how fast word travels around here. Look, were sorry for how we acted. You were right when you said that Ranma would do the same for us."

"Besides, with airen gone, is no fun around here anymore," said Shampoo.

"Where am I" yelled Ryoga as he stumbled through the fog.

Akane looked over to where Ryoga was standing. She ran up to him "Oh Ryoga, did you come to help us get Ranma back."

All Ryoga noticed was Akane running up to him and by the time her words got to his brain, all he coud do was smile and nod.

"So who or what are we waiting for," asked Mousse

"Kodachi" said Akane

At the mention of that name, everyone but Akane went pale.

Ukyo spoke up "You mean to tell us that we're being helped by the craziest person in Nerima"

"Yeah" replied Akane. She looked at her watch, "And she should be here by now".

As soon as Akane said that, out of the fog a large ship came into view. They could see Kodachi at the helm laughing that laugh of hers. To the martial artist on the dock, this was like nails on a chalkboard.

"If she's going to be laughing like that the whole trip, I'm gunna sew her lips shut," said Ukyo.

Kodachi pulled a switch and a ramp extended from the boat and on to the dock. Ukyo and Shampo went up first with Konatsu and Mousse carrying their bags. Then Ryoga went up praying that he didn't fall off and into the ocean below. Akane looked back to make sure no one else was coming then she picked her backpack off the dock and went up. She noticed that her bag was slightly heavier than before.

As soon as Akane got on the ship, she found Kodachi arguing with Ukyo.

"What are all of you doing on my ship?" yelled Kodachi

"Well, I'm going to help Ran-chan and if you get in my way, I'll throw you off this thing and rescue him myself".

"You wouldn't dare"

"Oh yeah"

Kodachi then pulled out her ribbon while Ukyo pulled out her spatula. Both of them leaped toward eachother. Kodachi twirled her ribbon around Ukyo trying to ensnare her while Ukyo tried to get in close to hit Kodachi with her spatula.

Meanwhile, Mousse and Ryoga were simply fighting over who ran into who. Mouse was throwing egg bombs while Ryoga countered with his razor bandanas.

Shampoo and Konatsu simply watched. Akane had enough and yelled, "Will you all shove it"

"How dare you speak to me that way? And after I let you help me rescue my Ranma darling" said Kodachi

Kodachi then turned her attention from Ukyo to Akane. She used her ribbon like a whip intent on striking Akanes' face. Akane sidestepped the ribbon, grabbed it, and then used it to fling Kodachi toward the helm.

"Now get this tub moving so we can save Ranma" yelled Akane. Then she went down into the ship to find a place to sleep.

Mousse went up to Kodachi while she was steering and asked a question that had been bugging him, "Since when do you know how to sail"

Kodachi laughed and said, "I've always been good at sailing. That is why my brother didn't want me coming along when he sailed his inferior yacht. Is it true that he sailed head on into a storm?"

Mousse nodded, "Yeah he did. He got us stuck on an island for two weeks"

Akane found a room and put her pack down. She opened it get out a brush when she noticed her cloths start to shuffle around. Then suddenly the most, horrible, disgusting, creature jumped out from Akanes' backpack.

"Never fear, Happi is here," proclaimed Happosai. Akane noticed that he was holding her panties in his hand. Akane almost beat him into a bloody pulp but then an evil idea came into her head.

In a sexy voice, she said "Oh Happosai, would you wait right here while I get the other girls. Then we can model bras for you."

Happosai had to fight hard to keep the drool from pouring out of his mouth. Akane left the room, wiggling her butt.

Akane got up on deck and called Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi. Then she told them about the pendant Happosai had found. Then the girls pulled out their weapons (Kodachi trading in her ribbon for her spiked clubs) then went down to where Akane told them Happosai was.

Now I cannot tell you exactly what happened but I can tell you how it ended. The girls tied a bloody and bruised Happosai up and threw him into the sea where he trailed behind the boat. Sharks started to follow him shortly after.

"I just love the sea, don't you" said Ukyo to Konatsu who just smiled at her.

"How could you do this to an old man?" cried Happosai as he kicked at the sharks.

"You lucky we decide not to cut rope" yelled Shampoo

Akane looked ahead with the wind blowing through her hair. _Hold on Ranma, we're coming._

Then Akane noticed that Ryoga and Mousse were fighting again. She walked over to break it up.

_That is if we don't kill each other first_

End of Chapter 4

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Well, that's chapter 4. Hope you liked it.


	6. Flashback

After breaking up the fifth fight that day, Akane practically fell into bed and drifted off to sleep.

The dream she had made her toss and turn all night.

"_Was that really your first kiss?" she said to Ranma who remained silent._

"_What difference does that make?" said Ranma finally_

"_It doesn't make any difference at all. But really to let yourself be kissed so easily! You haven't trained enough," she said as she placed a Band-Aid on Ranmas' nose._

"_You talk a good match, but you leave yourself open a lot," she continued_

_Then, she found herself scooped into Ranmas' lap. "Who are you to talk?" he said staring straight into her eyes. She could feel his warm breath on her face and blushed. _

_Then Ranma backed away stammering "Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I was gonna kiss you or anything"_

"_I know that. You don't have the guts to do that, anyway."_

"_Keep talking like that and I might," yelled Ranma._

"_Oh Yeah? Go ahead and try it," she yelled back._

_There was a pause and then Ranma said, "Ok, but close your eyes"_

_She closed her eyes and waited forever. Then she heard Ranma say, "I guess this is something you have to do with someone you like."_

_She opened her eyes again, "I see. Of course you can't do it with me"._

"_That's not what I meant," he yelled. He then calmed down "If you don't mind, then I don't" he said slowly. They slowly inched closer and closer._

_Suddenly, the door opened revealing her dad and Ranmas' dad, Nabiki, and Kasumi. Nabiki yelled "Come on! Are you going to do this or aren't you? We don't have all day!" This had utterly ruined the moment much to her secret disappointment._

Akane woke up shortly after and could not fall back to sleep. She got out of bed and walked up to the ship's deck. Akane noticed Ukyo looking out to sea and walked up.

"Couldn't sleep either," she said. Ukyo looked over at Akane and looked out again.

"You know, I always knew that you and Ran-chan would wind-up together," said Ukyo.

"What"

"I hear you call his name in your sleep. I've been in denial about your relationship for a long time. I think it took seeing you with that ring to make me realize that Ranma is yours. I guess I'll just have to look for love somewhere else".

Akane was unable to look Ukyo in the eyes. She had to say something.

"What about Ryoga? I think you two would make a good couple"

Ukyo yelled, "Why does everyone keep saying that. Ryoga is probably the biggest tool I've ever met."

"Well I just thought because of how you two acted in the cave of lost love and how he rescued you from that monkey guy, that there was something going on between you two."

"Are you kidding me? In the cave, Ryoga and I were trying to split you and Ranma up and the only reason he saved me from the monkey guy was because I told him that I'd help him find you. If I had not said that, then he would have ditched me."

"Why would Ryoga help you break me and Ranma Up?"

"You mean you haven't noticed"

"Noticed what"

"That Ryoga likes you. He's just too damn shy to say anything."

"He does"

There was an akward pause. Then Akane said, "Well, he's just going to have to get over me. Ranma has always been the one for me. Ryoga will just have to deal with that".

"That was incredibly cold Akane" said Ukyo.

"It the hard truth" Akane noticed the sun was rising. "I'm going to go make some coffee."

Ukyo's eyes went wide. "Are you sure that's a good idea Akane"

"Hey Ranma could do things like make coffee and cook. Maybe I can too".

"I'll come with you just in case".

Akane rolled her eyes and made her way to the ships kitchen.

An hour later, they were sitting at the table with everyone else.

Akane was chatting with Shampoo "So Ranma puts in fake fangs and dresses up in girls cloths claiming he's Ryogas' sister. I mean, it was obviously Ranma in disguise but Ryoga believed him".

Shampoo started laughing out loud while eating her breakfast and to her and everyone else's surprise, Ryoga was laughing right along with her.

"Yeah although that's not half as bad as the time Ranma got caught wearing girls gym shorts while he was a boy" said Ryoga

"Why was Ranma wherein girls gym shorts in the first place" asked Konatsu.

Ryoga thought on how to phrase his response knowing that Akane was right there.

"I found a map that would lead to a Japanese spring of drowned man. I gave it to Ranma and the map led him into the girls' locker room."

Ryoga then changed the subject before anyone could clue Akane in on his reason for "helping" Ranma.

"So this breakfast sure is great Ukyo," he said.

"Thanks but Akane made it," said Ukyo

Everyone's eyes went wide as they stopped chewing their food.

"Before you all fight to get into the bathroom, just know that Akane's cooking comes from the ring. Ranma could cook so Akane can cook"

The group then hesitantly started to eat again then decided the food was safe after an hour of no ill effects.

Akane then went back up to the deck and threw several waffles at Happosai who was still being chased by sharks.

Suddenly in the distance, Akane noticed a ship closing in on them.

End of chapter 6

I know it took awhile to get this chapter up. Don't worry; the Ryoga/Akane situation will eventually be resolved and I am aware that Akane came off bitchy. I'll try to work on it in the next chapter or two.


	7. Pirates

The other ship soon closed the distance and practically crashed into the left side of Kodachi's.

Everyone ran up to the deck where Akane was standing dumbfounded. Then leaping from seemingly out of nowhere, a girl with red hair down to her knees appeared in front of the group.

"Hello everyone, I'm Sophia. My friends and I will now be raiding your ship," she said.

Then seven other people appeared behind Sophia. There were four guys and three girls in the group. Sophia then walked over to one of the guys and said "They're all yours captain". The captain had tanned skin, brown eyes, and long black hair with a red streak in the front. Even Akane had to admit that the captain was just as handsome as Ranma.

The captain looked over and noticed the ring on Akane's finger he said "That a nice ring. I'll be taking it." He reached out and the ring shocked him. He laughed, "That wasn't very nice. I will just have to cut your finger and take that with me instead."

Akane's battle aura flared up and she punched the captain in the chest. This caused him to stagger back a bit. The captains' expression turned from playful to angry. He reached for the handle on his sword and said, "Kill them and take whatever loot you can find". Then he drew his sword.

"Yes captain Shane" yelled his crew as they charged

Then Kodachi yelled, "As your captain, I order you to get these scoundrels of my ship."

Then Akane and her friends charged not caring that they just responded to an order from Kodachi.

Akane went straight for the captain using the amaguriken at full speed. Captain Shane either dodged or blocked all her punches. He raised his sword and started slashing wildly at Akane who even with Ranmas' speed could barely dodge it.

Ukyo was having just as much trouble with Sophia. Sophia suddenly jumped backwards and reached to her side. Ukyo charged forward with her spatula held high until she felt her feet pulled out from under her. Ukyo landed hard on her back. She looked up as the end of Sophia's steel whip coiled around her spatula. Sophia smiled as her hand sparked and sent several thousand volts of electricity down the whip, through the spatula and into Ukyo.

Ryoga sent several of his bandanas flying at his opponent. His opponent Marik who wore a black bandanna to cover his face and had short dark hair lifted his hands and a burst of red flame came out and reduced Ryoga's bandannas to ash. Marik then summoned a scythe and slashed open the front of Ryoga's shirt. Ryoga discarded his shirt as it had suddenly caught on fire. In Ryoga's confusion, he didn't see Marik charge forward and deliver several punches to Ryogas face and chest that also left severe burns.

The twins Lyn and Cessily had Kodachi right where they wanted her. Cessily who had pink hair and amber eyes would distract Kodachi with various theatrical moves while her identical twin sister Lyn would steal Kodachi's weapons. The twins then closed in on Kodachi and drew their daggers. They started slashing away wildly at Kodachi who was forced to go on the defensive.

Konatsu found himself paralyzed by the music coming from the flute played by his opponent Michael. Michael was a very skinny boy with a short haircut. Soon Konatsu found his right arm start to twist and contort as Michael changed the tune of his flute.

Mousse squared off against a similarly dressed man named Lucian. Mousse let loose several spears from his sleeves. He knew that there was no way Lucian could dodge. Then suddenly, Mousse's spears were cut into useless scraps and several playing cards were lodged into Mousse's chest. Mousse quickly removed the cards and charged forward with claws now extending from his wrist when he noticed that his movements became slower and the air around him became cold. Mousse could feel his body start to freeze.

The blond Laurie lifted her giant hammer and swung at Shampoo who could barley dodge. Shampoo was getting tired fast and knew that she had to end this quick. So using the last of her strength, Shampoo jumped over the hammer and delivered a powerful jump kick to Laurie's chest. Laurie didn't even stagger or flinch as Shampoo fell to the ground, her leg very sore. In the brief moment of contact, Shampoo could feel that Laurie's skin was hard as diamond. Laurie swung her hammer again and hit Shampoo.

Shampoo flew and hit Konatsu, breaking him the flutes spell. Then the two of them collided with Kodachi, knocking all three of them out. Lucian and Sophia eventually backed Ukyo and Mousse into the pile.

Akane jumped back from Captain Shane. Akane focused her chi and fired a Moko Takabisha blast at Shane. The attack however was incomplete because Akane at the time wasn't feeling very confidant. Shane raised his sword and it absorbed the blast. He pointed his sword at Akane and redirected the blast at her. Akane was hit and she fell back. She looked up at Shane diving down, ready to impale her.

Ryoga saw Akane in danger. He ran from his fight with Marik and jumped right in front of Shane's sword.

Time froze. Ryoga's last thought before the sword went through his chest was of a girl he knew who lived on a farm with pigs.

Ryoga fell.

Akane started to cry as she cradled Ryoga in her lap. It seemed like all was lost until they heard Sophia scream. Sophia was trying to shake off the ugliest most disgusting creature she had ever seen.

"Hey baby" said Happosai with a smile

Sophia eventually shook him off. Happosai then latched himself onto Laurie.

Laurie shouted "Get this creature off me"

"It's a water lizard," said Lyn

"No it's an oompa loompa," said Cessily

But at that point, it didn't matter as Happosai had left Laurie and was now pursuing the twins. The men of Shane's crew all tried to catch the old pervert but Happosai was too much for them. Finally, Captain Shane shouted, "They house some kind of demon. I believe it's time for a tactical retreat".

Then as quickly as they came, they were gone.

"Were did the pretty ladies go" said Happosai.

However, nobody paid attention to him as they were gathered around Ryoga.

Kodachi got up and looked around at her injured crew. Then she said, "Akane, Ukyo, Mousse, bring the injured to the sick bay immediately"

Kodachi then walked down into the ship to get medical supplies.

End of Chapter 7

Just to let you know, the next chapter will probably be a short one. So…stay tuned.


	8. Recovery

Too everyone's surprise, Kodachi was an incredibly skilled doctor. She had been able to use various healing potions to mend Shampoo and Konatsu's broken bones. All the two of them had to do now was rest for a little while.

However, since Ryoga had lost so much blood, the healing process would take longer. He had already passed out when Kodachi started to operate on him. Her potions could only do so much now, only time would tell.

Mousse and Akane took Ryoga to his room and put him in bed. Akane decided to sit by his side until he woke up.

"Help yourself to the kitchen," said Ukyo. Happosai smiled and started to raid the fridge.

"This is us saying thank you for inadvertently saving us. Nevertheless, if you step out of line once, we'll throw you back out to the sharks. Hey, are you listing to me old man"

"Yes, I heard you," said Happosai as he was eating a bowl of soba noodles.

Konatsu walked up to Kodachi as she was steering the ship. Kodachi felt his presence and since she had grown tired of her usual theatrics just said, "Is there anything I can do for you Konatsu".

"I was just wondering when you learned how to make healing potions and heal wounds"

"Oh that. When I was studying on how to make sleeping and paralysis powders, how to heal the sick was also in the same book. So I figured it couldn't hurt to learn."

"Ever think about becoming a real doctor"

"Sometimes, but my brother thinks only men can be doctors so he won't let me go to any medical colleges."

"But he will let you captain your own boat"

"Not exactly. I will confess, this boat is actually his. I stole it because I wanted to help Akane rescue Ranma"

"Wait what"

"That's right; I know Ranma really loves Akane and not me. I realize that a long time ago and I've come to accept it. But it was just so much fun messing with those two. And just to clear up other things, I know about Ranma's curse too."

"But…how"

"Unlike my idiot brother, I actually read books that contain other things besides samurais."

"Does your brother know about any of this?"

"No. Unlike me, brother dear is actually as crazy as he acts. I tried explaining the curse once but he just thought I was up to no good again"

"Wow"

After that, Konatsu left to go find Ukyo and help serve dinner. He walked into the kitchen and saw Ukyo smiling at him. Konatsu couldn't help but smile back.

Mousse in the meantime was helping Shampoo get around. Even though her bones were healed, her chest and stomach still hurt. Though she would never admit it aloud, Shampoo was glad for Mousses help.

Ryoga woke up two days later. Akane was asleep in the chair next to his bed. Ryoga thought about recent events. He remembered right before being stabed, it was not Akane he thought about. It was Akari. It confused him. Ryoga felt strongly for both Akane and Akari.

However, there was a difference. He knew Akari's feelings towards him and his other half. As for Akane, Ryoga had absolutely no clue. He had a plan. It wasn't a good one but he had nothing else.

"Akane" he called.

Akane stirred and slowly woke up. She looked over and instantly threw her arms around Ryoga.

"Thank god you're okay," she said.

Ryoga tried hard not to chicken out of his plan. He gently put one of his hands on her shoulder while the other tilted her chin up. Akane knew what Ryoga was going to do and pushed him away.

"I'm sorry," stammered Ryoga

"It's alright. I'm sorry but my heart belongs to Ranma. Anyway, I thought you were with Akari."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you seemed happier after meeting her. You also didn't seem to get lost as much."

Ryoga thought for a minute then said, "I guess that's true"

Akane held out her arms "Friends"

Ryoga hugged her and replied "Friends".

Akane left the room to tell the others that Ryoga was up while Ryoga lay back in bed. Ryoga thought his heart would break at any second but it didn't. Akane was right. He had been happier since meeting Akari. Suddenly a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders.

Ryoga smiled and said to himself "Akari, I have something to tell you when I get back".

Akane had told Shampoo and Mousse about Ryoga and now was off to tell Ukyo. Akane forgot to knock and let herself in the room. She saw Ukyo sitting up in her bed, in her underwear. Ukyo looked a little edgy.

"Akane, what is it" Ukyo asked nervously.

"I wanted to tell you that Ryoga was awake. Why are you in your underwear? Especially with Happosai running around"

"I always sleep in my underwear. Besides if that old goat comes anywhere near me, I'll just hit him over the head with my spatula."

"Well, alright" said Akane with her eyebrow raised as she turned and left the room.

As soon as she left, a half dressed Konatsu popped out from under the blanket stammering, "Do you think she saw me?"

"No but we better get dressed before anyone else comes through that door."

The next day, Kodachi saw something ahead of them that made her eyes grow wide. It was a pyramid made entirely of diamond. She looked at the map and it was in the exact spot where Akane's ring had burned a hole.

And little did she know that the pirates weren't that far behind them.

End of Chapter 8

I honestly thought that this chapter was going to be a lot shorter than it turned out. I would also like to point out that Ukyo and Konatsu did not have sex nor were they about to. In this case, they were literally sleeping together.


	9. The Pyramid

"Captain Shane, what do you want us to do?" asked Sophia

The captain took out a pocket telescope and looked through it. That diamond pyramid had to have something incredibly priceless inside. If not then he and his crew could always smash the pyramid and haul away the pieces. And the crew they fought days ago was entering it.

He looked over at Sophia, "Get the crew ready. We'll be following them in and when they find what they're looking for, we'll attack and kill them."

"What about that freaky thing that attacked us last time"

"If that thing attacks us again, I'll kill it myself."

The martial artist entered the pyramid to find nothing but a large empty room.

"Anyone else feel kinda ripped off," said Ukyo

"We came all this way, and Ranma's not here," yelled Mousse

Everyone was staring at Akane.

Akane looked at them. An obvious idea came to mind.

"Why don't we try to focus our thoughts on Ranma like we did before" Akane told them.

After 5 minutes of doing so, Akane's ring started to glow and the floor of the room started to descend.

After awhile, the floor stopped and the group was no in a much larger room. At the far end was a large diamond column. Inside the column was a sight for sore eyes. It was Ranma. He was sound asleep, frozen inside the column.

"What we do now," asked Shampoo.

"Simple, try the ring again" said Konatsu.

However before they could do anything, they were greeted by Captain Shane and his crew descending from the first floor.

Captain Shane walked toward Ranma, "A man in a diamond column. There has to be somewhere we could get money for that." He was within three feet from Ranma when Akane jumped in front of him.

"Get any closer to him and I'll send you straight to your coffin. Got it! Ranma is my fiancée. Touch him and I'll kill you"

Captain Shane laughed, "Not if I kill you first". Then he drew his sword and the rest of his crew engaged Akane and her friends in battle once more.

"It's a shame I have to smash in that pretty face," said Laurie as she swung her hammer, aiming for Shampoo's head.

"Shampoo feel exactly the same way," yelled Shampoo who dodged the attack and threw one of her chui (those Chinese mace things that she carries) at Laurie. The weapon hit Laurie in the chest but Laurie's face did not show pain or concern from the attack. Laurie swung her hammer down forcing Shampoo to dodge. Fortunately for Shampoo, Laurie's hammer got stuck in floor. Shampoo took the opportunity to run towards Laurie, grab her fallen chui, and then slam both her weapons into Laurie's chest. Shampoo heard a cracking noise but before she could act on it, Laurie kicked her away. Shampoo recovered quick and just in time to dodge another swing from Laurie's hammer. Shampoo threw both her chui at Laurie. One hit her chest again and the other hit Laurie in the face. Suddenly, cracks started appearing on Laurie's face and a shattering noise was heard. Bits and pieces of stone started falling from Laurie's cloths and eventually her face started to fall off as well. Underneath it all, Laurie looked the same except now her skin seemed to have a more natural look to it.

"How could you break through my armor?" yelled Laurie.

Shampoo didn't bother to answer as she threw one punch into Laurie's face, instantly knocking her out.

Konatsu was in trouble. Michael was playing his flute and Konatsu had his hands covering his ears to block the sound. Konatsu knew he had to risk uncovering his ears so he could attack. An idea hit him. Konatsu ran in close to Michael and head butted him. This made Michael stumble and stop playing. Konatsu took the opportunity to throw several shurikens aimed at Michael's chest. Michael dodged them and before Konatsu was able to cover his ears again, he was caught under the flutes spell. The tune that was played forced Konatsu to lie flat on the ground. Michael stopped playing but Konatsu couldn't get up.

"That was a clever trick but it won't save you," gloated Michael. Michael started to play again and Konatsu was brought to his feet. Michael changed the tune and Konatsu felt all his bones start to bend to the breaking point.

Michael started to gloat once more, "After I kill you, maybe I'll bend the pretty girl with the spatula to my will next."

Konatsu felt a blinding rage build inside him. He fought the flute's spell and slowly, he started moving on his own. He reached into his pocket and threw one shuriken witched sliced Michaels flute in half. Konatsu felt himself regain full control of his body. He walked forward, grabbed Michael's throat, and lifted him off the ground. Konatsu held him up, crushing Michael's throat until he lost consciousness. Then Konatsu dropped him on ground. Michael was still alive but he would never insult Ukyo or speak again.

Lucian and Mousse went toe to toe. Mousse threw various knives and shuriken from his robes, which were blocked by Lucian's cards. Lucian couldn't tell but Mousse was slowly getting closer to him. As soon as Mousse was close enough, he threw several of his chains at Lucian. Lucian was wrapped up in the chains and they were constricting him. Lucian smirked, the chains froze, and he broke out of them.

"Nice try", he said as he reached forward and grabbed Mousse's robes. Mousse felt his robes freeze under the touch. He pulled away and his robes shattered leaving him without a shirt. Lucian threw several playing cards that became lodged deep in Mousse's arms and chest. Lucian drew a knife from his own robes.

Lucian smirked and said "Time to die". He charged forward to deal the killing blow when Mousse suddenly disappeared.

"Hawk's Talon" yelled Mousse from above. As he came down, the talons in on his shoes dug into Lucians shoulders and forced him to his knees. Mousse Jumped off from Lucian, which forced him to smash his head on the ground.

Even though Mouse was usually blind, he noticed that his victory earned him a smile from Shampoo.

Kodachi was able to hold her own against the twins. Every time one of them slashed at her with a dagger, Kodachi would block would block with one of her clubs. However, Lyn used one of her daggers to reflect some light into Kodachi's eyes, which gave Cessily the opportunity to steal her clubs.

Cessily held the clubs in her hands while taunting "What are you gunna do without your weapons?"

Kodachi clapped her hands. Then sleeping gas spurted from the clubs, which put Cessily to sleep. Kodachi took out her ribbon and squared off against Lyn. Since Lyn was alone now, she was easy prey to Kodachi. Kodachi wrapped her ribbon around Lyn's wrist and pulled. This caused Lyn to drop her daggers. Kodachi then wrapped the ribbon around Lyn's waist and then started swinging Lyn around like a toy. Kodachi slammed Lyn into Cessily who was just getting up and then the two slammed into the wall. The victory over the twins sparked Kodachi's trademark laugh.

Ryoga knew that close combat with Marik would lead to more burns and having to deal with that scythe of his and his bandannas would get burned to ash if he tried to stay back. Ryoga decided to take his chances and got in close. He threw a punch that knocked the bandanna covering Marik's face off. Underneath the bandanna, Ryoga could see that Marik's face was badly burned.

Ryoga laughed, "Now I see why you hide face. If I looked like that, I'd wear a mask too".

"I'll kill you," yelled Marik. He threw his scythe directly at Ryoga. Ryoga dodged and the scythe was implanted in the ground with Ryoga standing right above it.

"You missed" Ryoga yelled.

"Did I now" Marik yelled back.

Suddenly, four pillars of fire spiraled out from the ground under Ryoga. Ryoga was so distracted by the attack that he didn't see Marik come up behind him. Marik grabbed Ryoga in his arms and held him tight. Ryoga could feel the air around him become hot and his skin felt like it was on fire. Using what little strength he had left, Ryoga broke free from Marik's grasp. He backed away and thought of as many depressing things as he could. He thought of losing the fight, losing a fight to Kuno, Akane finding out his secret and shunning him, and worst of all, never being able to tell Akari that he loved her.

Ryoga raised his arms yelling, "SHIN SHISHI HOKODAN"

He fired the perfect lion's roar blast that sent Marik flying though the pyramid and into the ocean.

Sophia's whip hit Ukyo in the side and shocked her. Sophia's whip came back again but Ukyo deflected it with one of her throwing spatulas. Ukyo got in close, almost hitting Sophia with her giant Spatula. However, Sophia was able to grab Ukyo's wrist and and shock her again. Sophia proceeded to kick Ukyo away and then used her whip to to shock Ukyo once more. Sophia watched Ukyo spasm on the ground as her muscles started to contract.

Sophia kicked Ukyo in the stomach while saying, "I'm tired of playing around." Her hands sparked, "Good bye".

Sophia lashed out her with her whip. Ukyo raised her giant spatula to block it even with her muscles not directly obeying her will. The whip coiled around the spatula.

"That won't save you," laughed Sophia.

Sophia was channeling as much electricity through the whip as she could but it didn't seem to be hurting Ukyo at all. Ukyo soon recovered and yanked Sophia's whip away from her.

"How were you able to do that," yelled Sophia.

"If you must know sugar, the handle on my spatula is made of rubber," said Ukyo. Ukyo ran up and performed a spinning back kick into Sophia's chest. Before Sophia had a chance to recover, she was greeted with the view of Ukyo's spatula in her face.

It was now down to Akane and Shane. Akane and Shane easily dodged each other's attacks and neither of them seemed to be getting tired. After awhile, Akane saw an opening when Shane swung his sword low. Akane jumped over his attack and was able to deliver a roundhouse kick to Shane's head. As Shane fell to the ground, he slashed out with his sword and clipped the side of Akane's leg. Akane ignored it. Shane recovered and started slashing wildly at Akane. Shane couldn't tell that Akane was slowly drawing him into a spiral.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA" yelled Akane as she uppercutted Shane. Then an intense whirlwind swept both of them up off the ground. While inside the whirlwind, Akane could see that Shane was still intent on killing her. Shane flew toward her and kicked. The attack sent Akane flying into the column containing Ranma. The whirlwind was generating enough wind to hold her in place. Akane looked up and saw Shane coming toward her with is sword held high. Akane couldn't move and she knew that if Shane's attack hit, she would die.

A tear escaped from Akane's eye as she screamed, "RAAAANNNNMMMMAAAAA".

Suddenly, the column shattered into billions of shards and the glow from her ring faded. The winds flung Akane, Ranma, Shane, and the shards around the room. Akane held the still unconscious Ranma in her arms until the wind settled. She looked up and saw Shane pinned to the wall by several diamond shards. He was dead.

Suddenly, the pyramid started to rumble.

"The pyramid is starting to come down," shouted Konatsu.

The Nerima martial artist escaped the pyramid through the hole that Ryoga made during his fight. Each of them reluctantly carried one of the pirates. They made it out just as the pyramid came down.

They laid the pirates down on the ground and took off on Kodachi's ship.

An hour later, the pirates woke up. Sophia looked around. Captain Shane was gone and so was the other crew. Then something brushed up against her hand. It was the captains' hat. She smiled at it and put it on.

She looked at her crew and ordered, "Cessily and Lyn, fish Marik out of the sea. The rest of you, grab as many pieces of the the pyramid that will fit on our ship".

The crew looked at her and after the information sunk in, they yelled "Yes Captain Sophia".

End of Chapter 9

Sorry it took longer than usual to get this chapter up. I've been busy lately. There will probably be one more chapter in this series. You'll finally get to see Ranma and Akane reunited and something will happen that will have a big affect on both of them. Also, we'll find out where Happosai was the whole time.


	10. Red Hair

Everything should have been ok. Ranma was found and was still asleep. However, Shampoo just had to start trouble again.

"You wanna fight now," yelled Akane

"Yes. One who wins gets Ranma," said Shampoo

"Are you really going to leave Ranma alone if I win?"

"On Amazons honor"

"Well, alright"

Akane and Shampoo walked to opposite sides of the ship and bowed to one another. Shampoo charged at Akane with her chui held high. Almost as soon as it started, the fight was over. Akane quickly sidestepped Shampoo's attack and kicked her in the jaw. Shampoo was sent flying back. She soon crashed into a crate. Shampoo got up slowly. Knowing she had lost, Shampoo reluctantly bowed to Akane. She walked off and Mousse followed her.

"Why did you do that?" asked Mousse, "Akane has Ranma's abilities and Ranma beat you almost exactly the same way."

"Stupid. Shampoo know that she no match for Akane now. Shampoo still have pride and did not want to let Akane have Ranma without a fight", Shampoo said with a tear in her eye.

Mousse noticed the tear and said, "You really did care for Ranma after all huh."

"Yes."

Shampoo's tears fell freely now. Mousse walked up and embraced her. To his surprise, Shampoo didn't stop him or push him away.

They stayed that way until Shampoo stopped crying.

Mousse looked at her and said, "We better get back".

Shampoo nodded and they walked back.

They found Akane standing near the still sleeping Ranma. Her ring started glowing and then it emitted a bright flash of light. When it subsided, Akane's ring became brittle and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.

Everyone was so distracted by the light that they didn't even notice Ranma wake up.

"What's every one looking at?" said Ranma.

As soon as everyone snapped back into reality, they quickly noticed Ranma. This naturally caused everyone to crowd around him.

Ranma couldn't help but notice that Shampoo and Kodachi didn't launch themselves at him, Mousse and Ryoga didn't threaten to kill him, and Konatsu and Ukyo were holding hands. However, he just shrugged it off and searched the crowed for the one person who mattered to him the most.

At first he didn't recognize her but then one look at her eyes and he knew it was her.

"Akane" he called

"Ranma" Akane called back.

"I like your hair"

"What"

Ranma then asked if someone could get them a mirror. After a few minutes, Mousse pulled one out of his robes. Akane looked into it and what she saw shocked her and everyone on the boat. Akane's hair had turned bright red.

"What happened?" said Akane

Ranma thought about it for a second then he simply said, "I don't know"

Then a big wave crashed against the boat soaking both Ranma and Akane. To everyone's surprise, Ranma was still a boy. There was a long silence until Ranma softly said, "I'm cured".

He quickly ran forward, grabbed the now red haired Akane, pulled her into a hug, and then proceeded to dance around the ship with her.

Another wave hit the ship. This time however, it only hit Shampoo. Akane and Ranma took one look at the small pink cat, screamed, and ran off.

Ranma and Akane hid in a closet.

"Since when are you scared of cats" asked Ranma.

"When I had the ring, it gave me your abilities. The Nekoken must have been one of them. And with that, came the part of you that's scared of cats" said Akane.

"But the ring is gone now"

"Maybe since I had it so long, its effects became permanent. "

"I guess that could also explain why you have red hair and I don't turn into a girl anymore. Part of my soul must still be inside you. Luckily for me, it was the part of me that was a girl."

"Are you really ok with not having all of your soul back?"

"Akane as long I have you, my soul will always be complete"

Ranma couldn't help but smile when he saw Akane blush. He moved closer to her.

"Thanks for finding me" he said.

Akane was about to say something when Ranma pulled her into a kiss. She was surprised at first but then, she slowly started to kiss back. The kiss was long and passionate. Ranma and Akane each seemed to be trying to express what they had each felt for so long. Before they could go any further, the door opened. Ukyo and Konatsu had caught them.

"Well well, didn't take you two long, did it" laughed Ukyo

"Ucchan, maybe we should just leave them alone" said Konatsu

Ranma got up and looked at Ukyo "Since when does Konatsu call you Ucchan"

Ukyo started to stammer. Luckily, for her, she was saved by the laugh of a certain perverted old man.

"What a haul. What a haul" laughed Happosai as he carried three large bags.

The girls gathered around Happosai, ready to pound him for stealing their underwear. Akane caught him and took the bags from him.

"And just where have you been" asked Akane.

Happosai feigned innocence "Where am I now"

Akane punched him.

"Alright already. I was on the other ship. I just had to get a hold of the pretty pirate ladies panties".

"But three sacks full"

"Who are we talking about again"?

The next thing Happosai knew, he was once again being dragged behind the ship with sharks nipping at his heels.

Akane lifted the bags again and noticed that they were very heavy. Out of curiosity, Akane dumped the bags. Aside from panties, the bags also contained a large amount of treasure.

In a very Kasumi like voice, Akane exclaimed "Oh my".

In the end, they all decided to split the treasure amongst themselves.

The trip back to Japan was very uneventful. Akane tested her abilities. She was right; the rings effects had become permanent. She was now Ranma's equal in battle. Ranma though a little worried at first, eventually started to spar seriously with her and he became even closer to her when he found out that she could cook now.

After they got back to Japan, everyone went their separate ways.

Akane and Ranma went back to the Tendo dojo.

Kodachi went back to the Kuno estate.

Ryoga went in the general direction of Akari's farm.

Ukyo and Konatsu went left for the okonomiyaki shop.

Mousse and Shampoo however found the Neko Hanted to be deserted when they went in. They only found a sing note left. It read "To Shampoo and Mousse. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this in person. I have grown tired of Japan and have decided to return home. I have left two tickets for the both of you. Should you however decide to stay, I left the deed to the restaurant for you to have. With love, Cologne".

Shampoo grabbed one of the tickets that were lying not far from where she found the note. Since she no longer had Ranma, there was no reason for her to stay. Then she saw Mousse grab the other ticket and tear it in half.

"What you doing Mousse"

"I've decided to stay. I like it here"

"Fine, but Shampoo is leaving."

"Wait, you could stay too and help run the restaurant….with me"

Mousse extended his hand to her and very hesitantly, Shampoo took it.

While Ranma and Akane were on their way home, Ranma seemed to be fumbling with something in his pocket.

"What are you doing Ranma?" asked Akane

"Trying to find something"

"What"

Ranma then got down on one knee and pulled out a simple diamond ring that was in his share of the treasure.

"Akane Tendo, I know it's a little soon since it feels like we only just started being a couple but….Will you marry me?"

It took several minutes for the information to sink in.

Akane slowly said, "You dummy, I would have said yes the day you first kissed me. So yes, I will marry you. I was always going to marry you".

After she said that, Ranma jumped up and embraced Akane, taking just enough time to put the ring on her finger. They stayed that way for what seemed like forever, simply enjoying each other's warmth.

"I love you Akane"

"I love you Ranma"

They shared a soft kiss and then slowly made their way home.

A year later

Ryoga eventually found Akari's farm. He knocked on the door to her house and as soon as she answered, he swept her up in his arms and kissed her. They'd officially been an item ever since. Ryoga used his share of the treasure to by himself a GPS locater. With it, he spent much less time lost.

Ukyo and Konatsu eventually told everyone about their relationship. To their surprise, everyone had already figured it out. They ended up giving their money to a charity to help children who came from abusive backgrounds.

Kodachi with Nabiki's help used her money to become financially independent from her brother. She eventually moved out of the Kuno estate and into a small house near her school. She now works as a medical intern with Dr. Tofu.

One day while sparing with Shampoo, Mousse accidently let a baseball fly out of his robes. The ball hit Shampoo in the forehead and knocked her out for several minutes. Shampoo woke up with Mousse cradling her. At that moment, she reached up and pulled him into a soft kiss. Then, Shampoo giggled and walked off leaving Mousse in a catatonic state.

Akane and Ranma were married amongst all their friends and family. To the surprise of the Tendo family, Ranma's now ex-fiancés didn't cause any kind of disturbance. Moreover, when it came time for Akane to throw the bouquet, all of them plus several girls got up to catch it. In the end, it was Kasumi who caught it and she couldn't help but look over at a certain doctor.

A year after that, Akane gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl. Ranma and Akane's family had already seen them and now, it was their friends turn. Akane couldn't help but smile when she saw Ryoga and Akari. Luckily, they had made it back from their honeymoon just in time. After a while Ukyo, Kodachi, and Shampoo started to argue about who was going to be the favorite aunt while their significant others simply decided to stay out of the way.

After everyone had left, Akane and Ranma each held a baby in their arms.

Ranma looked at his wife and then at his kids and said "You two have absolutely no chance of being normal"

The end

Well hopefully this chapter answered any questions that may have still been lingering. I hope you all enjoyed the ending. Don't know what I'll do next. I have a few ideas but I'm still trying to work em out. Just to let people know, the pirates are up for grabs. If anyone wants to use them in his or her own fanfic or give them their own story then feel free to. See you next time.


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